


a heart, a prison, a kiss, a key

by dictura



Category: Persona 5
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:02:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25982536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dictura/pseuds/dictura
Summary: Akira has to talk Ryuji out of his Velvet Room cell. Or maybe it's the other way around. Pegoryu, second-person POV (Akira).
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Sakamoto Ryuji, Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji
Comments: 6
Kudos: 95





	a heart, a prison, a kiss, a key

He’s not the last one you find, but he’s the last one you go to.

Your friends are hunched in the cells of the Velvet Room, and it doesn’t take long to figure out why. It’s like they’ve been afflicted with despair—but there’s no remedy to give them, no special item to ease what they’re feeling, because it’s coming from within them. Everyone feels defeated. Everyone feels done. And there’s nothing you can give them but your words, assurances that you know who they are deep down, that you know what they’ve accomplished and that it _means_ something. To you. To the city. To the whole world, maybe.

You just have to hope they believe it, because you know you can’t do it without them.

And you know it’s going to be hardest to face him, because words don’t feel like enough. Because you’ve seen him tired, you’ve seen him angry, but you’ve never seen him give up. Not since the first time he stood up with that mask on.

When you walk up to his cell, he’s crouched on the floor, hoodie and jeans and so much the vulgar boy you met on your first day, but also…less.

“Yo,” he says, his voice quiet, hollow. “Looks like we’re both somehow still alive and kickin’. But…where at?”

“Just come with me,” you plead. You’re not ready to go through this—not again. Not with him.

“Okay…” he says, but he doesn’t get to his feet. “Man, this prison cell kinda makes me think of when we first met…”

You reach for the bars of his cell—and as your fingers close around them, you find yourself on the other side. Locked in with him.

“And remember how—wait, what are you—”

You lean back against the other side of the cell, let yourself sink, sigh as you fall on your knees. “Figures.”

“What? Why are you in here with me?”

And you realize that what you have to say to get Ryuji out of this cell isn’t just about him.

You sigh again. “Because my heart is a prison, I guess.”

“What—for real? Like this is…a palace? But I thought people with personas—”

“No, it’s not—this place, it’s the Velvet Room. People who are like me use it. When I first came here, Igor—or the thing pretending to be him, I guess—said it was curious that the form it took for me, the form of my heart, was a prison. But the thing is—I’ve always known why.”

Ryuji cocks his head at you, frowns. “What, because you got sued? The probation?”

“I think it would’ve been like that even before then. Because—of how I am.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. You’re so freakin’ tough. Why would you—lock yourself up in your own head?”

You let your head sink into your hands, speak through your fingers. “It came up in the trial, because…Shido said that I assaulted him with the woman he was with because _I_ wanted her, and, well. When they asked me about it taking my statement, I laughed. And they…got around to figuring out that I was—that I _am—_ gay.”

Ryuji winces, and your heart is in your stomach, but he’s leaning towards you. “They didn’t—threaten to take off a leg if you didn’t fess up on _that_ one, did they?”

You choke out a laugh. “No, they didn’t. I guess I just wasn’t so tough back then.”

“Why didn’t you ever just say something to us? I mean, all those times I bugged you to pick up chicks with me—”

“My parents didn’t just send me here because I tried to help someone and it went wrong,” you spit out, bitterly. “They sent me here because I’m… _defective_ to them in other ways.”

Ryuji puts a hand on your knee, still leaning further in. “Dude, _no_ , it’s not even—you know they’re just shitty adults, right?”

You let yourself flop fully to the floor, legs sprawled out, and manage to pull your hands away from your face, roll up your head. He doesn’t look beaten now, at least. But he looks—worried.

“You know that’s not how any of us would see it, right?”

You swallow. “I don’t know that. That’s why I never told you.”

He shrugs. “You know now. But that’s…fair, I guess.” He stands up, looking around at the bars, the cell. “So—your heart’s a prison?”

“Yep.”

“You gonna let us out?”

You rub the back of your neck. “That’s what I was doing. Everyone’s out of their cells. But I came to get you, and now I’m…in here.”

Ryuji frowns, paces. “Why now? Why—”

“I don’t think I should answer that.”

He stops, fixes his gaze on you again. “Why not?”

“Ryuji,” you say slowly, carefully. “I’m gay.”

“Yeah, I got that.”

“But that’s not the whole—look, if that was it, we’d be out of here, right?”

He cocks his head at you. “You don’t have to keep feeling bad about it, man. I’m not mad you didn’t say anything. I get it.”

You nod, still slowly. “Okay, but also—”

“We got locked up together the day we met, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“You got me out that time,” he says, staring off into the distance. Into a memory. “Maybe it’s my turn now.”

You frown. “How do you—”

He comes back over, kneeling down in front of you. He reaches for your jaw, pulls up your hanging head and makes you meet his eyes. They’re clear—none of the hesitation from when you walked up. He seems to be staring into you, and you swallow hard, because if he could, he would see everything right on the surface, right now.

And then he throws his arms around you.

“Akira, you don’t have to take on _all_ this shit yourself—”

Your whole body starts to shake. Because—you really thought you were all dead back there. And you really thought you might be executed. And you really thought you might have led them all to this and never even would’ve had the guts to just tell them—to tell _him_ —

“Ryuji, I—”

“You don’t have to say it. I’m not _that_ much of an idiot.”

“But I—”

“All right, look.” He’s speaking softly at your ear, still gripping you tightly to his shoulder. “I’m gonna try something to get us out of here. But don’t freak out, all right?”

You shake your head against him. “I’m not ready to go yet, I—don’t—”

He chuckles low in his throat. “I’m not gonna let you go. Just—” He pulls back slightly, looking at you. Your eyes are hazy—you’ve been trying to hold in tears you know you can’t let go. You can’t let that all start because you don’t know when it’ll stop and you have to be, they _need_ you to be the strong one.

“Oh, man,” he groans. “This is—not how you are gonna want this to go down, but—”

“For what to—”

And he kisses you, softly, just once. Just a brush, and he leans back, looking a little sheepish, a little expectant.

You’re not sure why, so you look around, expecting something, too.

And the cell’s bars are gone.

You look from the dark hallway back to him, bewildered. “How did you know that would work?”

He blushes and leans back, but he offers you a hand as he gets up. You take it and let him pull you to your feet. “Well, it’s like in fairy tales, ain’t it? You gotta…kiss the prince to break the spell, or whatever.”

Suddenly what he’s done hits you _very_ hard and you’re blushing, too, but as if on cue, he looks away and—he’s Skull again, the mask obscuring the color on his face.

“Well,” you say awkwardly, frozen in place. “Thanks for the save.”

He grins at you, and he’s— _more_ that boy, again. “I think I still owe you about a million. If only it was always that easy, yeah?”

“Yeah,” you say, and you are very fixated on adjusting your gloves. “If only.”

Ryuji frowns and reaches out a hand to brush your arm, then lets it fall uncertainly. “Hey, I’m—sorry if that’s not what you wanted. I’m…kind of _also_ bad at picking up guys.”

You look up at him, and you deeply wish you didn’t both have masks on. “That’s a thing you’ve tried?”

“Maaaybe just this one time…” He bows his head sheepishly. “Didn’t know it was my thing until about two minutes ago. So, uh, any advice?”

“Well,” you say, stroking your chin, “at least you didn’t try to tell me you’re a member of the Phantom Thieves.”

“Hey, yeah,” he says, and the grin is spreading across his face again. “So, Akira, are you into guys who are heroes of justice? Because actually—”

“You know their leader?”

“—I happen to be their second hottest member.”

“After Ann?”

“Okay, maybe third, but that’s not where I was going with that.”

And you blush, your hand reaching for your dagger for something to fidget with. “Ah.”

“I’m gettin’ it, right? Totally a natural.”

“I’ll concede you the point on that one.” And you can’t help but grin back at him. “But I think you’ll still need some practice.”

“Good thing I got my favorite training partner on board, right?”

And finally, you smirk. “Let’s save the world, then we’ll flirt.”

Ryuji groans. “Some guys just have hotties falling right into their laps, but me, I gotta _save the world_ first.”

“Probably because you’re into guys who are heroes of justice.”

He throws an arm around your shoulder as you walk back to collect the rest, and it’s just as familiar as it’s always been, but your whole chest cavity swells when he says, “Yeah. That’s probably it.”


End file.
